During election campaigns, do people bother to do door-to-door canvassing anymore?  I ask this, because if this is something that is not being done anymore then why isn't it being done?  I came here from the UK, and whenever we had an election - be it local, national or European, we would have some representative from some local political party knock on the door at least once during the campaign. 

In the 2000, 2002 and 2004 election campaigns, not one person came round to our home to ask us for their vote.  Instead we got automatic phone messages, mail pieces, ads on the TV and radio but no real connection between us and the politicians.

I'm not expecting Presidental candidates to go door to door, but what is wrong with local activists going around the neighborhood and doing some face-to-face work?  In a day when everything is phone, email or mail, I would have thought that the personal touch would have a bigger sway.  I'm sure the "general population" feel that politicans of each color are just as bad as each other, but if Mr. X or Ms. Y running for say, City Council came to my door and asked me to vote for them and by the way, why don't you vote for my frends in the State House, Senate and these guys all the way up to President... I might take them more seriously because that person took the time and trouble to speak to me personally.  Now, of course Mr. X or Ms. Y can't hope to get around to each and every house but could it be enough for them to go to those houses where the party thinks they "could vote for them" (like "marginal 'states' ")- the ones who "would vote for them" and "would not vote for them" would receive a visit from a volunteer instead. 

Or am I just out of touch?

Mark.